Back on October 7, The Nassau Guardian Editorial compared The Bahamas at 42 with Singapore at 50. Read it here…
The article pointed to Singapore's many strengths, implemented by her once powerful leader Lee Kuan Yew. The closing paragraph read:
"So where will The Bahamas be at age 50? Without a culture of meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty, The Bahamas will not emerge as a forceful competitor to Singapore anytime soon. Until our government can provide a stronger education system, cease crony capitalism and tighten its fiscal belt, The Bahamas will forever envy the prospect of being a global powerhouse."
While the editorial left out Singapore's adherence to the rule of law, it did point to the important fact that they lead the world of nations in the "Ease of Doing Business".
There is another important index that Singapore leads the world in and that is the Economic Freedom of the World Report where they have been in second place for more than two decades.
"The report measures the economic freedom (levels of personal choice, ability to enter markets, security of privately owned property, rule of law, etc.) by analysing the policies and institutions of 157 countries and territories.
“Economic freedom breeds prosperity, and the most economically free countries offer the highest quality of life while the lowest-ranked countries are usually burdened by oppressive regimes that limit the freedom and opportunity of their citizens,” said Fred McMahon, Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom with the Fraser Institute.
"According to the report, based on 2013 statistics (the most recent year of available data), the top 10 most economically free jurisdictions are Hong Kong (which continues its streak of number one rankings), Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, Jordan, Ireland and Canada, with the United Kingdom and Chile tied for 10th.
The most regrettable part with these indices is that Singapore remains at the top, which is not an easy task, while The Bahamas rankings continue to fall.
For some reason The Bahamas Government does not even seem prepared to go after the "low hanging fruit" in an effort to improve.
It's a sad commentary.
